Question Inconsistent ping and my ISP won't help ?

[Suidd]

I just had Optimum installed about 8 days ago and the service hasn't been consistent at all. I play a lot and my ping jumps from 50ms to 80ms to 120-300 most of the time.
ping to google server Im playing on a wired connection. Im using their modem they gave me and using my own router netduma r2 to be exact.

 

[punkncat]

Which level of speed are you paying for?

Heck, if that ping issue isn't an issue across their service tiers the pricing is WELL better that I get here in GA.

 

[Suidd]

their basic package 75 down 5 up $45

 

[bill001g]

In general the spikes in the ping times mean that data is being held in a buffer someplace. This is generally due to a overloaded connection.

So first I will assume that this is some kind of cable coming into your house....ie you are not running mobile broadband. Any kind radio signal is subject to interference.

I would first try to remove the router and plug directly into the modem. You might have to reboot the modem everytime you change what is plugged into it.

This should eliminate the router as the cause.

I would next run tracert and ping the various hops in the trace. If you have your router installed that will be hop 1 and you should never see more than maybe a spike to 5ms max. Hop2 represents the connection between your house and the ISP.
If you were exceeding your bandwidth you can see spikes at this hop. Note if you were to upload at max rate it will limit your download rates and cause latency spikes. If you see issue here be sure to check that nothing is using bandwidth in your house.

It gets messy after this. Hop2 is shared by you and other neigbors. It is kinda rare to be able to overload this on modern systems. Years a go if a teen in a neighbors house was running torrents it would affect everyone. Now days ISP have huge bandwidth.

Hops farther out can be bandwidth issues between your ISP and other ISP. Nothing you can set or change that will affect this.

 

[Suidd]

In general the spikes in the ping times mean that data is being held in a buffer someplace. This is generally due to a overloaded connection.

So first I will assume that this is some kind of cable coming into your house....ie you are not running mobile broadband. Any kind radio signal is subject to interference.

I would first try to remove the router and plug directly into the modem. You might have to reboot the modem everytime you change what is plugged into it.

This should eliminate the router as the cause.

I would next run tracert and ping the various hops in the trace. If you have your router installed that will be hop 1 and you should never see more than maybe a spike to 5ms max. Hop2 represents the connection between your house and the ISP.
If you were exceeding your bandwidth you can see spikes at this hop. Note if you were to upload at max rate it will limit your download rates and cause latency spikes. If you see issue here be sure to check that nothing is using bandwidth in your house.

It gets messy after this. Hop2 is shared by you and other neigbors. It is kinda rare to be able to overload this on modern systems. Years a go if a teen in a neighbors house was running torrents it would affect everyone. Now days ISP have huge bandwidth.

Hops farther out can be bandwidth issues between your ISP and other ISP. Nothing you can set or change that will affect this.

https://imgur.com/a/mZ13D1x

View: https://imgur.com/a/mZ13D1x
okay so i ping the hops so is my ISP the problem or is it the modem they gave me?

 

[bill001g]

tracert is not a good command to test with since it runs for such a small time. If you run it mulitple times and it looks like this then it is more likely the issue.

This is very strange. You seldom see high latency like that on the first hop....unless you are using some kind of wireless connection like mobile broadband.

Generally problems with the modem show up as data loss. Not sure how a modem can increase the latency that much.

I would call the ISP and ask them. Do not talk too much about games or they will blame the game try to talk mostly about the ping times to their first router and google.

 

[Suidd]

what is more likely is the issue? The modem or ISP?

 

[bill001g]

Most likely a ISP issue. A modem is a very simple device it mostly just converts the data protocols used by say coax/fiber to ethernet. There is not a lot of software to go wrong and generally hardware issue cause packet loss. There is not much you can do with a modem anyway, you can't upgrade firmware even if you wanted to only the ISP can do it.

 

[Suidd]

Most likely a ISP issue. A modem is a very simple device it mostly just converts the data protocols used by say coax/fiber to ethernet. There is not a lot of software to go wrong and generally hardware issue cause packet loss. There is not much you can do with a modem anyway, you can't upgrade firmware even if you wanted to only the ISP can do it.

So I’m pretty screwed then haha .? Had a technician come and say nothing was wrong . Any ideas what I could do ?

 

[bill001g]

The problem the ISP techs are trained to fix data loss. There equipment measure say signal levels and voltages. None of this really causes delay. What would have been interesting is asking the ISP tech to use his meter to ping something. The meter will connect directly to the cable eliminating the modem as the cause. If his meter did not get high ping times then you would suspect the modem or maybe the pc.

Not sure what to recommend.

What you have almost looks like a mobile broadband connection rather than a something like cable or fiber. Those systems it is not uncommon to get high latency in the first hop. This is also what a vpn looks like. I assume the trace you provided was when you were testing without your router ? With a router in the path you see 1ms to the router and then higher latency past there.

If that 10.4.6.x ip in hop 1 of the trace you posted is your router ip (very strange to use 10.x.x.x in a home lan) then the problem could be the router or your pc.

 

[Suidd]

The problem the ISP techs are trained to fix data loss. There equipment measure say signal levels and voltages. None of this really causes delay. What would have been interesting is asking the ISP tech to use his meter to ping something. The meter will connect directly to the cable eliminating the modem as the cause. If his meter did not get high ping times then you would suspect the modem or maybe the pc.

Not sure what to recommend.

What you have almost looks like a mobile broadband connection rather than a something like cable or fiber. Those systems it is not uncommon to get high latency in the first hop. This is also what a vpn looks like. I assume the trace you provided was when you were testing without your router ? With a router in the path you see 1ms to the router and then higher latency past there.

If that 10.4.6.x ip in hop 1 of the trace you posted is your router ip (very strange to use 10.x.x.x in a home lan) then the problem could be the router or your pc.

The problem the ISP techs are trained to fix data loss. There equipment measure say signal levels and voltages. None of this really causes delay. What would have been interesting is asking the ISP tech to use his meter to ping something. The meter will connect directly to the cable eliminating the modem as the cause. If his meter did not get high ping times then you would suspect the modem or maybe the pc.

Not sure what to recommend.

What you have almost looks like a mobile broadband connection rather than a something like cable or fiber. Those systems it is not uncommon to get high latency in the first hop. This is also what a vpn looks like. I assume the trace you provided was when you were testing without your router ? With a router in the path you see 1ms to the router and then higher latency past there.

If that 10.4.6.x ip in hop 1 of the trace you posted is your router ip (very strange to use 10.x.x.x in a home lan) then the problem could be the router or your pc.

Yes I was using tracert with the modem they gave me , yeah I thought it was strange the modem IP is that. I’ve ping test on phone and consoles as well and it’s always the same. Maybe it’s the modem they gave me then ?

 

[bill001g]

I guess it could be the modem but most times you see loss not packet delay. Delay means it is being held in a buffer and modems do not really have large memory buffers.

Ask the ISP what other customers see for the latency on that hop. Ask them why it is that high. It should be under 10ms on a cable based system and in the 3ms range for most fiber.

 

[Suidd]

I guess it could be the modem but most times you see loss not packet delay. Delay means it is being held in a buffer and modems do not really have large memory buffers.

Ask the ISP what other customers see for the latency on that hop. Ask them why it is that high. It should be under 10ms on a cable based system and in the 3ms range for most fiber.

Would buying my own modem remedy this instead dealing with my ISP?

 

[bill001g]

In some ways this is where renting a modem helps. The ISP should be willing to send you one to swap out just to see if it fixes this problem. If it doesn't work then you have not spent your money.

In the long term it might pay back to get your own modem. Still my ISP pretty is being idiots. They claim that they have removed the rental charge BUT a month or so later they increased the plan cost much more than what old rental plus the old plan costs.

If you are renting I would not buy your own until you get this fixed. Their first thing to blame is your modem so now if they want to blame the modem they will have to eat the costs.

 

[Suidd]

In some ways this is where renting a modem helps. The ISP should be willing to send you one to swap out just to see if it fixes this problem. If it doesn't work then you have not spent your money.

In the long term it might pay back to get your own modem. Still my ISP pretty is being idiots. They claim that they have removed the rental charge BUT a month or so later they increased the plan cost much more than what old rental plus the old plan costs.

If you are renting I would not buy your own until you get this fixed. Their first thing to blame is your modem so now if they want to blame the modem they will have to eat the costs.

Okay also I just checked my coax cables outside a wire was bent pretty hard , also have a technician coming out to look at the cables I’m running out of ideas on what it could be

 

[bill001g]

If a tech is coming out ask him to use a ping command on his meter to test the latency. Almost all those devices can do that and most techs know how to test this.

 

[kanewolf]

Okay also I just checked my coax cables outside a wire was bent pretty hard , also have a technician coming out to look at the cables I’m running out of ideas on what it could be

And some companies won't touch wiring after a certain point. That is the homeowner's responsibility.

 

[Suidd]

If a tech is coming out ask him to use a ping command on his meter to test the latency. Almost all those devices can do that and most techs know how to test this.

Okay will do thank you for ur input

 

[Suidd]

And some companies won't touch wiring after a certain point. That is the homeowner's responsibility.

All the wires I have are from my ISP

 

[Suidd]

If a tech is coming out ask him to use a ping command on his meter to test the latency. Almost all those devices can do that and most techs know how to test this.

Also I just found out I have a two way cable splitter and the other port isn’t being used

 

[bill001g]

I would remove it and replace it with a barrel connector but that is unlikely to cause delays with ping. If the unused port is capped off these caps generally short the inside pin to the ground which reduces the impact of a splitter.

Generally cable issues reduce the signal levels which causes data to be damaged more often and discarded. You would see packet loss in most cases.

Most modems have some screen that shows the signal level in Db. Although unlikely you might see a difference removing the splitter.

 

[Suidd]

I would remove it and replace it with a barrel connector but that is unlikely to cause delays with ping. If the unused port is capped off these caps generally short the inside pin to the ground which reduces the impact of a splitter.

Generally cable issues reduce the signal levels which causes data to be damaged more often and discarded. You would see packet loss in most cases.

Most modems have some screen that shows the signal level in Db. Although unlikely you might see a difference removing the splitter.

Gotcha well I’m not really finding any solution hopefully the technician can fix my problem but my hopes aren’t high . Thanks again man